


Burn

by hquinzelle



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, tasertricks - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-04
Updated: 2014-08-06
Packaged: 2018-01-11 04:46:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1168855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hquinzelle/pseuds/hquinzelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chapter 1 (Burn) - Darcy's morning was not going well; then she forgot some papers, got some coffee, ran into the God of Mischief (literally), and suddenly, her morning got a lot better.<br/>Chapter 2 (Freeze) - In which Darcy gets really hot, buys ice cream, and has another encounter with the God of Mischief.<br/>Chapter 3 (Wet) - In which Darcy thinks she got stood up by Loki, heads back to Stark Tower in the middle of a storm, and receives a pleasant surprise.<br/>Chapter 4 (Sticky) - In which Darcy wakes up to find the God of Mischief is making her breakfast, he's a messy eater, and she helps him clean up.<br/>Chapter 5 (25 Candles) - In which Darcy thinks everyone, including the God of Mischief, has forgotten her birthday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Burn

Darcy’s morning did not start well.  

Jane had a breakthrough in her wormhole research the day before, generating an immense amount of data that, of course, had to be entered into the computer that night; it couldn’t wait until the morning.  Darcy had taken it home, but had apparently fallen asleep on her keyboard after entering the last figures.  She raised her head and groggily looked at the clock, cursing as she saw the time.  She was late.  

She got dressed in a white blouse and black skirt.  She had wanted to wear pantyhose, as well, but of course, her only pair snagged on her nails and tore as she put them on, so she had to go without.  She inspected herself in the mirror, and deciding she looked presentable, grabbed her bag and left the apartment, making her way to the lab.  She hadn’t had time to make her morning coffee or eat breakfast, but she would just grab a cup of the terrible SHIELD coffee and steal some of Thor’s pop tarts later in the day.  

After entering the lab, Darcy slapped her hand to her forehead.  She had been in such a hurry to get dressed and out the door, that she had forgotten the papers with Jane’s data in her apartment.    Darcy dropped her bag inside the door and turned around and went back the way she came – she would rather be late and have the papers Jane needed then have Jane notice she didn’t have them.   Jane might have been her friend, but she was also her boss, and when she was doing science, she had little patience for mistakes.

While she was back in her room, Darcy decided she might as well make a cup of coffee; she was already really late and would be in trouble with Jane, so she didn’t see the harm in taking a few more minutes.  

“Hot, hot, hot,” Darcy said, trying to grip the steaming paper cup of coffee in one hand and the papers in the other while trying to open the door of her apartment at the same time.  

She managed to get the door open and rushed out, trying to make up lost time.  She collided with the God of Mischief, who was walking down the corridor to get to the lab as well, and had the misfortune of being outside of her door at the wrong moment.  Her cup of coffee was smashed between her chest and Loki’s arm, spilling all over her white blouse and the sleeve of his green button-down shirt.  Startled, she dropped the coffee cup and the papers, watching in dismay as the remaining coffee soaked into the paper and the floor.

Loki stopped and grabbed his sleeve between his fingers, looking at the stain in displeasure.  He turned in her direction and Darcy met his eyes, almost afraid to look at him.  She saw Loki every day in the lab as he worked with Jane, but although she regularly admired his dark good looks from across the room when he wasn’t looking, they rarely interacted beyond the occasional hello and goodbye.  She knew from watching him interact with Jane and Thor, however, that he had a volatile temper which could easily be set off by the smallest things...surely, spilling coffee all over his expensive-looking shirt counted as more than a small thing.  She winced as she anticipated his response.

His green eyes appraised her coolly as he said, “Good morning to you, too, Ms. Lewis.”, his voice as cold as his eyes.  Without taking his eyes off of her, he flicked his hand, and the stain on his shirt disappeared.  

Neat trick, Darcy idly thought.  She was going to reply, but instead winced in pain and touched her chest.  Thanks to the coffee, not only was her shirt a lovely shade of brown, but she might have also slightly burned her chest.

“Ms. Lewis, you appear to be in pain.  Can I help you out?” Loki said, his eyes darkening as they focused on her chest.  

The hallway suddenly seemed a lot smaller, and Darcy felt a heat pool in her stomach that had nothing to do with the hot coffee she had just spilled on herself.  Loki might not have noticed her before – at least to her knowledge – but he was definitely paying attention to her now.

“Umm, no, I’ll be fine,” Darcy stammered, backing up slightly into the open doorway of her apartment.

“Nonsense; you are injured, and I only want to help you,” Loki said.  It might have been her imagination, but his voice seemed to lower an octave as he continued, “I don’t think it would be wise, however, for me to inspect your injury in the hallway for everyone to see.  Perhaps we should adjourn somewhere more…private?”

He moved forward, backing Darcy into her apartment and closing the door.  

“May I?” Loki asked as he slowly reached his hand towards the buttons of her blouse, giving her plenty of time to stop him.

Darcy nodded, not sure what she was agreeing to, but definitely not against anything that would happen, either.  

Loki undid the first three buttons on Darcy’s blouse, exposing part of her chest.  The source of her discomfort appeared, slightly reddened skin evident along the top of her lacy bra.  

Loki leaned forward and lightly blew on her chest.  Darcy watched in amazement as his slightly cold breath healed her burn.  The chill and his closeness caused her nipples to harden, and she let out a low moan.  He smirked slightly as he noticed, looking up at her.  

“Better?” he purred.  

Darcy found herself at a loss for words.  Loki looked like he was going to do or say something further, but just as he opened his mouth, a knock sounded on Darcy’s door and Jane’s voice could be heard outside, calling Darcy’s name.

Just like that, the moment was over.  Loki disappeared, leaving Darcy alone – and frustrated -in her apartment.

She opened the door, expecting Jane to be furious.  Jane had a concerned look on her face instead, and said “I was worried about you when you didn’t show up, you’re never late.  What happened?  Are you okay?”  She handed Darcy the crushed coffee cup and the coffee-stained papers.

Darcy mumbled something in response, threw the crushed coffee cup into her apartment, and closed her door.  She ignored the stain on the carpet outside, resolving to clean it up later in the day.  Jane didn’t ask any further questions, and the two women walked down to the lab together.  

Darcy paused outside the door of the lab and took a deep breath to quiet the butterflies in her stomach.  She was slightly nervous knowing that Loki would already be inside, unsure of how he would react to her now.

He didn’t look up from his desk at first, and Darcy’s stomach sank, thinking Loki was going to pretend nothing happened.  Everything changed; however, when Jane walked by Loki; as soon as Jane’s back was to him, he finally looked up at Darcy, his heated gaze lingering on her.

Darcy silently breathed a sigh of relief as she walked over to her workstation, making sure to put a little more sway into her walk than usual.  She wasn’t sure what would happen next, but she couldn’t wait to find out.

Her morning hadn’t ended up so bad, after all.


	2. Freeze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Darcy gets really hot, buys ice cream, and has another encounter with the God of Mischief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After a couple of reviewers asked me to continue the story, I came up with this idea - hopefully you like it as much as the first chapter. I may come up with a couple more, too, depending on how this goes over. I should have been studying instead of writing this...

It was a hot and humid day in New York City.  One of those days when a person is practically dripping with sweat the minute they step outside and nothing, not the shade, a cool drink, or even wearing less clothing  than usual (within the bounds of propriety, of course) provided any relief.   The only thing a person could do to combat the heat was to stay inside and crank up the air conditioning.     

Darcy loved air conditioning, but she could only stay inside  for so long before she began to get antsy.  During the week she could make do, because she had to work and could keep herself occupied, but on the weekend, like today, she got bored easily and had to get outside and do something, go somewhere, no matter what the weather was like.  

It was for that reason that Darcy stood on the corner outside Stark Tower, impatiently looking at her watch.  Jane and Thor were supposed to meet her outside the building so they could go to lunch fifteen minutes ago, but they were late, and her patience was growing thin.  She knew it had been a while since they had seen each other, but didn’t the two of them eventually have to come up for air? 

She took off her wide-brimmed hat and wiped the sweat off her brow, then smoothed down her sundress with her other hand.  She normally preferred to wear looser clothing, but she had worn something  different in case Loki decided to come with Jane and Thor.

She definitely couldn’t say that Loki wasn’t paying attention to her anymore; in the week since the coffee incident, Loki seemed to find every excuse he had to brush up against her or touch her while they were working.  Darcy decided two could play that game, and started to wear form-fitting, lower-cut clothing, strategically leaning over in front of him or reaching over him to get items whenever she could.  The tension between the two of them was as tightly drawn as a bow string , and the end result was that she was rather distracted at work – she still managed to get her job done though, and if Jane had noticed the difference, she hadn’t said anything.    

Darcy gave up waiting on the couple and turned around to go back into the building.  She stopped, however, when she saw an ice cream cart on the corner.  Ice cream was Darcy’s favorite dessert, and even though she knew it was too hot and the ice cream would melt faster than she could eat it, she purchased a two-scoop cone of her favorite, Rocky Road.  

She grasped the ice cream cone in her hand and began to lick it quickly as she moved away, once again making her way back to Stark Tower. 

“Ms. Lewis, we meet again.  You don’t have any hot beverages, this time, do you?”  she heard a voice say behind her.

Darcy briefly closed her eyes.  Of course, Loki _would_ choose the moment she was eating something that could potentially make a mess to show up.

She turned around to face him, momentarily distracted by how good he looked in his jeans and yet another button-down shirt, this one black.  He had one of his perpetual smirks on his face, indicating he found her highly amusing.

“No,” she said, grinning at him, “Just ice cream.  If I get it on you this time it will freeze instead of burn.”

He opened his mouth to respond with what would undoubtedly be a snarky comment or sexual innuendo, but stopped, his eyes lowering to her wrist. 

Darcy looked down to see what he was staring at, and realized with dismay that when she stopped eating it, the ice cream had begun to melt faster, and some of it had dripped on her wrist.  Of course, she hadn’t grabbed any napkins from the ice cream vendor, and had nothing to clean it up with.  She rolled her eyes in exasperation and held her arm slightly away from her body so the ice cream wouldn’t get on her dress.

“Hold that thought,” she said to Loki as she turned around to go back to the vendor.

“Darcy.” Loki said, his voice husky.

Surprised – it was the first time he had ever called her anything besides Ms. Lewis – Darcy turned around.    

Loki grasped her arm with one hand and pulled her closer with the other.  Time seemed to freeze as he brought her wrist up to his mouth, his eyes capturing hers.  Darcy’s suddenly nerveless fingers dropped the remnants of the ice cream cone, but neither of them noticed. 

He slowly licked the ice cream off of her wrist, his tongue lingering on her pulse.  Her breath quickened, and her pulse beat faster.  Once he was satisfied the ice cream was gone, he swirled his tongue over her pulse a final time and released her arm. 

Darcy felt her knees weaken as she imagined what else he could do with that tongue.   She shakily stepped back, looking down at the ground as she worked on getting her breathing under control. 

She suddenly started laughing, and pointed at Loki's leg.  Perplexed, he looked down to see what was so funny, and frowned as he noticed that the ice cream that Darcy had dropped earlier had somehow landed on his leg and slid down to the ground, leaving a large chocolate stain on his jeans. 

“You, Ms. Lewis, are a menace,” he said as he waved his hand, once again removing all evidence of the stain.

“At least it wasn’t your shirt this time,” Darcy said, still laughing.


	3. Wet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Darcy thinks she got stood up by Loki, heads back to Stark Tower in the middle of a storm, and receives a pleasant surprise.

Darcy moved the food around on her plate and gave a small sigh. Where _was_ he?

Jane and Thor had both felt guilty about standing Darcy up for lunch the day before, so they had invited her to their apartment and made her favorite dinner – corn dogs, tater tots, and macaroni and cheese – to make up for it. Thor had made steaks and baked potatoes for himself, Jane, and Loki, who had apparently promised Thor that he would come. Loki hadn’t kept his promise though, or at the very least, he was very, _very_ late. Thor tried to get in touch with Loki at his apartment in Stark Tower, but Jarvis had directed him to Pepper Potts. Pepper said Loki and Tony had gone somewhere a few hours ago; she wasn’t sure when they would be back, but she assured them there was nothing to worry about.

Darcy couldn’t help but feel disappointed – despite a promising start, nothing had happened yesterday afternoon because Loki had gotten called away on “Avengers business”. She had been hoping that the two of them would continue what they started after dinner tonight; she had a carton of Rocky Road ice cream in her freezer that she had bought just for that reason. What was he doing hanging out with Tony Stark, anyway? Tony wasn’t exactly Loki’s biggest fan...Loki _had_ thrown him out a window, after all.

“Is the food alright, Darcy? I can make something else for you, or order takeout…” Jane asked, interrupting her train of thought.

“No, that’s okay,” Darcy said, pushing her plate away. She tried and failed not to glance at the empty chair at the table as she continued, “I’m just not that hungry.”

“He said he would be here, Darcy,” Thor said as he followed her gaze, “I don’t know what he and Tony are doing.”

“Who, Loki?” Darcy asked disinterestedly. "I wasn't wondering where he was."

Jane gave her a look, clearly indicating she wasn’t fooling anyone.

“I had better get going, anyway," Darcy continued. "Tomorrow’s Monday, and my boss can be temperamental.”

She stuck her tongue out at Jane, who rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath about Darcy’s maturity level.

“I don’t suppose you can stop this, big guy?” Darcy asked Thor, pointing at the storm outside as she stood up and walked over to the windows. The heat wave that had been smothering the city must have finally broken. The sky was dark, the wind was blowing, and the ground below was being pelted by sheets of rain.

Thor looked up from the table and frowned slightly. “No, Lady Darcy. I cannot control natural weather events.”

Darcy gave him a skeptical look, but Jane distracted her as she said, “Darcy, why don’t you just stay here until the storm is done? Surely there’s no reason for you to rush back so quickly…at the very least, let us call Pepper and have her send a car for you.”

“No,” Darcy answered, “It’s not that far, and I have an umbrella, so I should be okay.” She took a ponytail holder out of her pocket and tied back her hair, then reached for her umbrella as she added, “Besides, the fresh air will help clear my head.”

“If you’re sure, “ Jane said, walking Darcy to the door.

Darcy hugged Jane and gave her a smile as she opened the door and walked into the hall. “I’ll be fine, Mom. See you later, Thor!” she said, giving a jaunty wave as she started towards the elevator.

* * *

 

_Two minutes later…_

“Stupid Loki. Stupid Tony Stark. Stupid rain. STUPID Loki.” Darcy muttered as she walked – or more accurately, marched, having worked herself into a temper – from Jane and Thor’s apartment back to Stark Tower.

Enough was enough. Loki had flirted with her and teased her for the last time. Who did he think he _was_ , anyway? Okay, so the last two times they had been interrupted hadn’t been his fault…but today he had promised to come to dinner and he hadn’t shown up. She couldn’t imagine he didn’t know she would be there - Loki wouldn’t have agreed to eat dinner with just Thor and Jane.

A powerful gust of wind grabbed Darcy’s umbrella and pulled it back over her head, separating fabric from metal.

“Oh, PERFECT!” she shouted, turning around to watch as the top of her umbrella went flying through the air.

Darcy threw the umbrella carcass on the ground and stomped her foot. She knew she was acting like a child, but it had been a disappointing night, and having her umbrella destroyed was just the icing on the cake. A few passersby gave her a second glance, but quickly looked away.

She huffed angrily, then bent down to pick up the umbrella, heedless of the fact that she was getting soaking wet. She was already wet, so what was more rain? She stopped as she saw a pair of black shoes come into her line of sight and looked up to see none other than the chosen object of her rage.

“Ms. Lewis,” Loki drawled as he looked at her. “I would be worried about my clothing, but the rain has already ruined it.”

Darcy wasn’t surprised to see that he looked gorgeous even when wet, his dark hair framing his face and his jeans and shirt clinging to his lean body. His green eyes appraised her as she stood up, the umbrella forgotten for the moment.

She was pretty sure she was doing her best imitation of a wet cat, her long ponytail hanging limply down her back, her makeup running down her cheeks, and both her pants and her shirt (which, of course was white and now clearly showed the outline of her bra) soaked. Loki didn’t seem to mind, though, his gaze lingering on her chest for a moment (typical man, Darcy thought to herself) before he looked back up.

He gave her a disarming smile as he said, “I apol-“

“Is that supposed to be funny?” she said, talking over him, “Who do you think you are, anyway? You show up when you want to, you continually _flirt_ and _tease_ me, you ---”

“I got you flowers,” Loki interrupted, holding a bouquet of vibrant orange roses in front of her face.

Darcy was stunned; she had been so busy berating him, she hadn’t even noticed that he had one hand behind his back the entire time. The roses were the most beautiful flowers she had seen in her entire life – they were large, fragrant, bright orange blooms faintly tinged with yellow at the edges. The roses were also perfectly dry despite the rain that was still falling around Darcy and Loki, and Darcy idly thought that he must have cast a spell on the roses to keep them from being ruined by the rain. She then wondered why he couldn’t cast that spell on the two of them as well, but then realized that would have been a little conspicuous, and caused people to ask questions SHIELD didn’t want to answer…she realized she was rambling internally, and forced herself to focus.

“You…got me flowers?” she repeated.

“Yes,” Loki said as he handed them to her, “That is why I was late to dinner. I had to go to multiple flower shops to find the right roses…and because I wasn’t sure where to go, I had to ask Tony Stark for help, which turned a one hour trip into a three hour trip.”

“Jane and Thor said you had left already, so I….” he continued, but Darcy wasn’t listening, her head stuck in the roses as she took a deep sniff. The God of Mischief had gotten her, a lowly mortal, flowers…and not just flowers, but her _favorite_ flower, roses.

“Darcy,” Loki said, “Have you heard a word I said?”

“You got me flowers,” Darcy said again, staring at him.

Loki shook his head as he asked, “You do realize it’s raining, right? Don’t you think we should go somewhere dry?”

Darcy didn’t even bother to answer him. She threw herself into his arms instead (careful to hold the roses where they wouldn’t be ruined) and crushed her lips to his. Loki staggered slightly, caught off guard, but kissed her back eagerly as his mind realized what was happening.

* * *

 

“Well? “ Jane asked, walking over to where Thor stood by the window, “Did he find her?”

Thor smiled and put his arm around her, pulling her into his side. “Yes,” he answered, pointing out the window. Jane smiled at the sight of Loki and Darcy embracing in the street.

“When do you think they will notice it stopped raining?” she asked.

“Not for some time, I suspect,” Thor answered, “I think they are a little preoccupied.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you have it...a tiny bit of angst, and more sweet than sexy this chapter. The next chapter (there will be at least one more) will be all Darcy/Loki.
> 
> Loki gave Darcy orange roses because they symbolize desire and passion. Orange roses can be considered a bridge between the friendship symbolized by yellow roses and the love symbolized by red roses, so he thought they were the perfect rose to express his current feelings and his hope that their relationship could grow into something more.
> 
> Information on orange roses found here: http://www.proflowers.com/guide/history-and-meaning-of-orange-roses).


	4. Sticky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Darcy wakes up to find the God of Mischief is making her breakfast, he's a messy eater, and she helps him clean up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MistressofMischief prompted, "Loki tries pancakes for the first time and it's Darcy's turn to entice and tease..."

_The morning after…_

Darcy stretched and yawned as she slowly woke up. She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling, smiling. Last night, to put it mildly, had been amazing. After they finished their impromptu make out session in the street, Darcy had taken Loki back to her apartment, and he had spent the entire night fulfilling every verbal and non-verbal promise he had made in the last week…including exactly what he could do with his tongue.

She looked over to the other side of the bed, tensing as she noticed it was empty. Had he left without saying goodbye? Wham, slam, thank you ma’am? She heard noise coming from outside the bedroom and relaxed; he was still there…but what was he doing? Curious, she went to the bathroom, then threw on a robe and walked into the main living area of the apartment.

Loki was standing at the stove in the kitchen, humming to himself as he stirred ingredients together in a bowl. She couldn’t see his face, but she noticed that he was wearing nothing but a pair of loose pajama pants, leaving his chest bare, and his hair was still ruffled from their activities the night before.

Darcy leaned against the wall and admired the view for a moment…until she noticed the state of the kitchen. Her mouth dropped open. The kitchen looked like a disaster area. Dirty bowls, cracked eggs, and flour covered the counter of the kitchen island, and every pan and kitchen utensil appeared to have been pulled out of the cabinets and stacked on one side of the stove.

Darcy counted to ten and closed her eyes as she tried not to lose her temper. She was _so_ not cleaning that up later (or ever, for that matter). She heard a voice talking again, and she opened her eyes and looked around, trying to find the source.

Her anger cooled as she noticed, to her great amusement, that Loki had her iPad open on the other side of the stove from the pans and kitchen utensils. He kept looking down at it as he finished mixing the ingredients and began to pour batter from the bowl onto a griddle (she owned a griddle?)…from what she could tell, he was watching a video on how to make pancakes.

“You’re making me breakfast?” she said as she walked up and put her arms around him, hugging him from behind and kissing his back. Loki reached a hand up and squeezed hers, then disengaged as he went back to watching the video.

“Yes,” Loki answered. “Thor has always liked “pancakes”, and I thought you might like them, also.”

“I do,” she said as she pulled back from him and walked over to the dining room table, where she picked up her phone to see if she had any messages. She started to panic when she saw the time, realizing that it was Monday, and she should have been at work two hours ago (she hadn’t even thought of looking at the alarm clock when she woke up earlier – her mind must have been fuzzy from lack of sleep and fantastic sex).

“Holy shit!” she said as she looked at Loki, “We’re both late to work! Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“Relax, Darcy,” Loki answered as he flipped a pancake, “Jane called earlier and said we both have the day off.”

Darcy slapped her hand against her forehead, then groaned.

“You do realize that by the end of the day, _everyone_ is going to know why we aren’t at work, right?” she said.

“I doubt Jane is going to tell anyone,” Loki said.

“Jane’s not the problem,” Darcy answered, “ _Thor_ is. You know he isn’t going to be able to resist telling at least _one_ person about us…and with our luck, that person will be Tony Stark, which means it will probably be on the front page of the New York Times tomorrow morning.”

Loki shrugged. “Does that bother you?”

“Of course not,” Darcy said, “It’s just that Tony isn’t going to be able to resist making jokes for the next week or two until something else comes along and grabs his attention.”

“I guess I’ll just have to find something to keep him busy, then,” Loki said, grinning at her.

Darcy shook her head. She noticed that he was almost out of batter, so she got plates and silverware and put them on the table along with the butter and syrup, then sat down.

She smiled as she saw that her roses were centered on the table in an elegant crystal vase; last night she had just thrown them onto the counter in her haste to get to the bedroom, so he must have put them in the vase when he woke up that morning.

“Dig in,” he said as he sat down, motioning towards the plate of pancakes as he placed them in front of her. He put some on his plate, smothered them in butter and syrup, then stopped, looking at Darcy expectantly as he waited to see if she liked them or not.

Darcy didn’t notice him watching her as she pulled a couple of pancakes from the stack onto her plate and put butter and syrup on them. She paused for a second as she picked up her fork…she was a little apprehensive – had Loki ever made pancakes before? Did he even know how to cook? The pancakes looked normal, though, so she took a big bite, then closed her eyes in bliss. _Wow_.

“These are divine,” Darcy said as she looked at him. Was there _anything_ this man – god, she corrected herself – couldn’t do?

She could have sworn that she heard Loki give a sigh of relief, but decided she must have imagined it as he grinned at her and said, “I should hope they taste divine…they were made by a god, after all.”

Darcy rolled her eyes.

Loki smirked, then dug into his own pancakes. Darcy watched him out of the corner of her eye as she ate, amused to see that Loki seemed to like pancakes as much as, if not more than, Thor (not that she would ever say that to him). He ate the stack that was already on his plate, then took more…as the pile of pancakes dwindled, she began to wonder if there would be any left for her to have seconds, and ate a little faster.

Darcy started to giggle as Loki took a particularly big bite of pancake and put it in his mouth, but her laughter quickly died as she watched syrup slowly drip down his chin and fell on his chest. She tried not to drool as her mind filled with images of a naked Loki and a bottle of syrup (it would be messy, but yummy…and worth washing the sheets afterwards).

“What?” Loki asked as he finally noticed Darcy looking at him intently.

Darcy didn’t answer him; instead, she got up and walked around the table, took his fork out of his hand and placed it behind her, then straddled him. Loki put his hands on her hips to steady her, then looked at her questioningly.

“Darcy?” he asked.

Darcy grasped his face in her hands and stared at his mouth as she leaned forward to where her lips were almost, but not quite, touching his. Loki’s eyes darkened and he shifted underneath her, trying to get comfortable. He leaned forward to close the gap between them, his mouth opening in anticipation, but Darcy stopped him by removing one of her hands from his face and putting her finger on his lips. He growled, frustrated.

“You have syrup on your chin…and your chest,” Darcy said, then proceeded to lick off the sticky substance, taking her time and savoring the taste.

Loki stopped her before she could finish his chest, crushing his lips to hers as he picked her up. Darcy wrapped her legs around his waist and kissed him back as he walked them towards the bedroom.

“Wait!” she said suddenly, ripping her mouth from his and pushing for him to put her down, “We forgot the syrup!”

He sighed and reluctantly let her down. She ran over and grabbed the syrup, then jumped back up into Loki’s arms.

“Now, where were we?” she asked, kissing him again.

* * *

 Hours later, Darcy smiled to herself as she walked over to the refrigerator and wrote “syrup” on her grocery list.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Loki's pancake recipe (there are videos on the page)...http://allrecipes.com/recipe/good-old-fashioned-pancakes/.
> 
> I was going to make this five chapters, but the last chapter took on a life of its own and became its own story, so "Sticky" is now the last chapter. I may add more chapters to this as i think of things or if anyone gives me prompts for it. Thank you for all of the love!


	5. 25 Candles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Darcy thinks everyone has forgotten her birthday.

_Six months later…_

“I’m awake! I’M AWAKE!” Darcy shouted as she reached her hand out, hitting the nightstand as she tried to find the alarm so she could kill the sirens of doom. Finally, she made contact with the Snooze button, and the room fell blessedly silent.

She pulled the cover back over her head, hiding from the sunlight that was streaming in her bedroom windows. She briefly entertained the idea of just turning over and going back to sleep, but then she remembered one very important thing…it was her birthday! She grinned and threw the covers off as she practically bounced out of bed.

Darcy’s birthday had always been her favorite day. It was the one day of the year that was just for her (well, and the millions of other people who had the same birthday, but that was beside the point, she didn’t know them). The presents weren’t what were important to her (although they were, admittedly, always appreciated); instead, it was the unspoken rules of birthdays.

_The Unspoken Rules of Birthdays (per Darcy Lewis):_

  1. _Thou shalt be extra nice to the person with a birthday._
  2. _Thou shalt do whatever the birthday person wants to do, within reason (murder, theft, etc. were notable exceptions to this rule)._
  3. _Birthday calories (liquid or solid) do not count, so the birthday person may drink or eat whatever they want, as much as they want._



She took great pains to make sure that everyone knew when her birthday was, most notably as the date drew closer (to the point of, but never going over, the edge of annoyance). This year she had been a little more reluctant to celebrate – not only was it her birthday, it was her _25 th_birthday (a quarter of a century old, her mind helpfully provided) – but that hadn’t stopped her for long.

“Loki?” she called out as she got ready, “Are you still here?”

There was no answer, and Darcy shrugged. It was unusual, but not unheard of, for Loki to go to work without her – he had probably left early because he knew it was her birthday today, and he didn’t want to be there when she saw whatever he had bought for her. Okay, so she had said that presents weren’t the most important thing – but she was really, really looking forward to finding out what her magic-wielding, ancient, self-proclaimed god boyfriend came up with.

Her alarm started screeching again just as she finished dressing – she had hit Snooze, but she had forgotten to turn it off. She froze when she noticed that it was almost noon, _way_ past when she was supposed to be at work. She could have sworn that she hadn’t changed the time before she went to sleep…Loki must have arranged with Jane for her to come in late on her birthday and changed it for her (she hoped).

“There should be a law against working on your birthday, anyway,” she mumbled to herself as she walked into the living room, looking to see if Loki had left something for her.

Nothing. Dining room…nothing. She frowned, then walked back into the bedroom, looking in the closet, in the nightstand drawers, even looking underneath the bed…still, nothing.

Did Loki forget it was her birthday?

Her shoulders slumped a little, but she only allowed herself to mope for a few seconds. Loki would never have forgotten her birthday…he must be waiting to give her something after work.

She grabbed her coffee off the counter and ran out the door…almost, but not quite, running into Loki, who was standing just outside.

“Loki!” she said, relieved.

He glanced down at the cup of coffee she had barely managed to keep from spilling, then looked back up at her, a worried expression on his face.

“Are you okay? Jane sent me to check on you, you were supposed to be at work hours ago,” he asked.

Darcy just looked at him for a second.

“Oh…I must have set my alarm for the wrong time. I’m fine,” she said, not quite meeting his eyes.

“Oh, good,” he answered, sounding relieved, “I’ll let her know. I’m heading to the cafeteria before I go back down there, did you want me to get you something?”

“No, that’s okay – I’m not hungry,” she said.

He nodded distractedly.

“I’ll see you down there, then.”

“Was there anything else?” she asked hopefully as he turned and started to continue walking down the hall.

“Yes, actually,” he answered, turning back to her. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. “I almost forgot…Jane wanted you to pick up a few things for her before you come down.”

Darcy smiled brightly as she chirped, “No problem…I’ll see you in a little bit.”

Loki kissed her, then walked off, leaving her standing in the doorway of her apartment, staring after him.

* * *

 

Darcy was almost in tears by the time she got to the lab, well over an hour later. She had managed to find everything on Jane’s list – from electrical parts to an obscure astrology book - but it had taken a lot longer than she thought it would.

She had seen a lot of her friends, including Pepper, Natasha, and Hawkeye, on her way into the building when she came back, and not a single one of them had wished her a Happy Birthday. Thor had been coming out of the elevator as she had gone in, and he had kindly taken the bags from her, promising to deliver them to Jane…but he hadn’t said Happy Birthday, either.

In short, this was turning out to be the worst birthday ever, and she couldn’t wait for it to be over. All she had to do was get through the next few hours at work, and then she could go home, drink, and start to look forward to next year.

She paused a few feet from the lab door, her mood swinging from upset straight to pissed off. A piece of paper was taped to the front door of the lab...hoping against hope that it was a Happy Birthday sign, and not what she thought it was, she continued to walk forward.

_Number of days since a Darcy-related food incident: 25_

She growled under her breath and pulled the sign off of the door, not caring that it tore in the process. She opened the door to the lab, stalked in, and threw the sign to her left, where it joined 24 other pieces of crumpled paper.

“Very funny, Loki,” she began to say as she turned towards the room, “That joke never gets...”

“SURPRISE!”

The lights in the lab flashed and streamers, balloons, and confetti poured down from the ceiling as people began to clap.

She blinked back tears as she saw that all of her friends ( _including_ Pepper, Natasha, Hawkeye and Thor) were there, smiling and laughing…no one had forgotten her birthday, after all.

The crowd parted, and Loki stepped forward.

“Happy Birthday, darling,” he said before pulling her into his arms and kissing her soundly.

“Thank you so much, everyone,” Darcy said when she was able to come up for air, “Let’s party!”

Someone cheered, and the party got into full swing once she had voiced her approval. Beakers and test tubes of brightly colored alcohol, along with trays of appetizers, circulated among the crowd; music blared out of speakers that she was pretty sure hadn’t been there yesterday; and an impromptu dance floor had been cleared in the middle of the room.

Darcy stood next to Loki, sipping from a beaker that was filled with Tony Stark’s best scotch, courtesy of one magic-wielding, ancient, self-proclaimed god boyfriend.

“You jerk!” Darcy said in an undertone as she elbowed Loki in the ribs, “You knew I would think that you – and everyone else – forgot my 25th birthday!! I can’t believe they all went along with it!”

“God of Mischief, love,” Loki said, kissing her on the cheek. She glared at him for a second, but then finally relented, sighing.

“You’re lucky you’ve got such a talented tongue,” she said saucily, taking a sip of alcohol.

“Yes, and I fully intend to give you your _real_ birthday present later,” Loki said into her ear, the timbre of his voice combined with the words making her knees go weak.

He pulled away from her, grinning.

“You look hungry,” he said, “I’ll go get you some cake, if you promise not to get it all over yourself…or me…first.”

“Well, then you would just have to clean it off, wouldn’t you?” she arched an eyebrow at him.

He looked her up and down before grinning wolfishly and walking off towards the dessert table.

“Indeed,” she heard him say under his breath.

* * *

 

Darcy was very, very happy (in no small part due to Tony Stark’s best scotch). Loki had brought her cake (which she had managed to not get on herself or others, thank you very much), then gone to talk to Thor so she could “mingle”.

Everyone had been very nice to her all evening, apologizing for making her think they forgot her birthday, bringing her drinks, making sure she had food, etc. Nick Fury in particular had promised that she could do whatever she wanted for the rest of the week to make up for the trick everyone had played, which had gone a long way to mollifying her.  

She was taking a break, leaning against one of the lab tables and watching some younger SHIELD agents make idiots of themselves out on the dance floor, when she heard a voice whisper her name.

“Darcy. Psst, Darcy…over here!.”

Darcy turned, looking for the source of the voice. Tony Stark stood behind one of the lab computers, a huge grin on his face and a small cake in his hand. She looked around to see if anyone was paying attention, then stepped closer.

“Tony, why are you hiding behind a computer…and why are we whispering?” she whispered.

“That suit Loki is wearing looks _really_ expensive. Don’t you think it would look even better with some decoration? Think of it as a way to get him back for that sign he hangs up every day,” Tony said, holding the cake out to her.

Darcy pretended to think about it, tapping her chin.

“Well…I don’t know…” she said.

“Look, I even made you a fresh sign,” Tony said.

Darcy narrowed her eyes at him.

“It’s amazing how this is in the exact same font and ink color, Tony…it’s almost as if you knew about it.”

Tony tugged on his tie, looking over her shoulder.

“Oh, look at that…Pepper needs me,” he said hastily, stepping around her and hurrying away.

Darcy snorted in laughter before turning around and moving towards Loki, who was still talking to Thor, his back to her…perfect.

“Loki,” she said, tapping him on the shoulder.

Thor’s eyes widened as he saw what Darcy held in her hand.

“Have you come to thank me?” Loki asked as he turned around, smirking.

“Yes, thank you,” she said sweetly, right before smashing the cake into his face, making sure to rub it enough to get some stuck in his hair.

Loki stared at her, his green eyes blank as his mind tried to process that yes, his girlfriend _had_ just smashed a cake into his face. Large chunks of cake dropped from his hair and chin onto his suit, hanging there for a few seconds before tumbling to the ground, where they splattered onto his shoes.

Darcy reached out a finger, dragging it through the cake on Loki’s cheekbone. She stuck the finger in her mouth and very, very slowly, pulled it out, making sure to let it go with an almost obscene pop.

“Delicious,” she said before handing him the piece of paper in her hand and walking away.

Loki looked down at the piece of paper, then burst out laughing. He flicked his hand, instantly removing all evidence of the cake, then followed her.

The piece of paper fell to the ground behind him, landing where Thor could clearly see what it said.

_Number of days since a Darcy-related food incident: 0_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone likes this!
> 
> Darcy is me in this chapter (at least the first few paragraphs, sadly I do not have a magic-wielding, ancient, self-proclaimed god boyfriend). I love my birthday, and look forward to it every year (although it is getting harder now that the number is getting higher).
> 
> I may have an idea for another chapter, but in the meantime, if you have any ideas, prompts, or just want to say hello, my Tumblr is hquinzelle.


End file.
